Field of the Disclosure
The embodiments described herein relate to an annular packer that includes a solid mandrel and may be set using annular pressure.
Description of the Related Art
Improving the safety and integrity of oilfield operations and design is a top priority in the oil and gas industry. It is important to provide an effective barrier between the downhole formation and the rig floor in order to prevent uncontrolled flow of fluids up to the wellhead. The main barrier between the formation and the rig floor is typically a cemented casing string. The cement creates a barrier in the annular space between the casing string and the formation directing the formation fluids and/or pressure into the production string where multiple devices and methods may be used to control the wellbore pressure.
In some instances, it may be necessary to provide another barrier in the annulus. Annulus packing devices are previously known to be used to create an annular seal. Annular packing devices are typically set by the application of pressure from within the bore of the device to set a packing element against the casing string. However, the flow paths required for setting the packing elements may provide additional leak paths whereby formation fluid may travel into the wellbore through the device. It may be desirable to have an annular packing device that does not include any flow paths from the bore that may be potential leak paths. Other annular packing devices may require complex setting mechanisms such as using an electronic or acoustic signal transmitted to the tool to set the packing elements. The complexity of such systems increases the costs of such annular packers. Further, such systems require an application of providing the requisite signals to the downhole location of the annular packer. It would be desirable to provide an annular packer that may be simply actuated by the application of annulus pressure.